Z-Axis: Technique, Collaboration, Innovation

Curated by Carrie Gates

June 5th – July 30th, 2009.

Events featured in Z-Axis include a group video screening, two new media art installations, audio/video workshops, a grand finale concert, and a panel discussion on collaboration and strategies for new media art practices.

Z-Axis is a five part new media event in Saskatoon, SK (June 5-July 30, 2009) exploring technique, collaboration, and innovation in audiovisual performance art and new media. All of the art at Z-Axis are collaborations of some kind, and many of these collaborations feature artists from Saskatchewan paired with artists from places such as Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto, Singapore, Providence, and Detroit. The five sections of this project are: gallery installations, video screenings, a free audiovisual performance workshop series, a concert, and a panel presentation.

The new black box-style upstairs event space at Paved Arts (Saskatoon, SK) is the perfect venue for viewing the video program, which features seven videos from VJs and sound artists which will be screened at Z-Axis on a loop for come and go viewing (just under an hour long programme). There will also be two interactive video installations that gallery attendants will assist visitors with (one runs for all of June and July, one runs only in July). Four free audiovisual performance workshops take place throughout the exhibition, with sign up on a first come first serve basis. Towards the end of Z-Axis, a concert will bring together the workshop participants with four other live video and sound art acts…and a little bit of live puppetry! The following day, there will be a panel discussion at Paved about topics in new media collaboration in Saskatchewan and beyond.

Z-Axis Background

Collaboration between skilled artists from diverse technical, aesthetic, and cultural backgrounds can help catalyze the production of innovative artworks that are only made possible by the artists’ meaningful, synergistic connections. Z-Axis presents a showcase of collaborative audiovisual artwork that brings together many different kinds of people and perspectives, while it investigates the nature of collaborative practice in audiovisual performance art and new media, highlighting the work of many Saskatchewan artists practicing in this field, as well as other artists from Canada and around the world.

It is important to consider Saskatchewan new media artists as parts of various translocal networks within international discourse. New media projects often require a diverse range of expertise that need to be sourced from different places in order to develop innovative multimedia projects, especially when interactivity is prioritized. The divergent nature of emerging media practices also suggests that creators can benefit if they are aware of new developments and people within and outside of their immediate communities, in order to best cross-pollinate ideas and technical methods, while opening possibilities. By working together, sharing skills and resources, and developing critical discourse, the environment for new media practice is strengthened and greater opportunities can arise for creators. Z-Axis was created to help link people and provide inspiration, enhance local media skill development, and provide a site where dialogue and inspiration can lead to new experiences.
-Carrie Gates

The Z-Axis exhibition was made possible with the generous support of a Saskatchewan Arts Board’s New Media Initiatives Grant. Carrie Gates’ installation (July only) was made possible by a Production Support Grant from Soil Digital Media Suite and a Production Grant from the Canada Council.